Lewis Hamilton & George Russell Unveil Black Mercedes W14 For 2023 F1 Season

The W14 represents more of a continuation of the development work that Mercedes put in. It continues to use the zero sidepod look which many people have questioned could be the root behind its problems with drag.

In light of the George Floyd killing and the black lives matters movement, the 2021 Mercedes W12 had a black livery, but the silver arrows had reverted to their classic silver livery in 2022 for the W13. But when Lewis Hamilton and George Russell unveiled the W14, guess what it was black again. But team principal, Toto Wolff who is also a co-owner with Mercedes and Ineos in the F1 team revealed that this time around the black colour was there for technical reasons more so than to make a social statement. He revealed that to save weight the team decided to use the black livery as it is proving to be challenging for F1 teams to reduce weight on their cars with the new ground effect regulations.  Mercedes after dominating F1 since 2014 for the first time didn’t win a constructors title with the W13 after it got the design of its car wrong. It poured an incredible development effort in 2022 to make sure the W13 was finally competitive and by the end of the year Mercedes even won a race and literally made Ferrari sweat it for P2 in the constructor’s battle.  The W14 represents more of a continuation of the development work that Mercedes put in. It continues to use the zero sidepod look which many people have questioned could be the root behind its problems with drag. But Toto Wolff says that is not the issue, but does yield that there are developmental ideas that may force the car to move away from that aerodynamic philosophy.  “The key bits are we’ve completely changed the suspension to help with the handling. There are significant changes in the bodywork, although the core stayed the same,” said technical director Mike Elliot, who is in his third year in the role after taking over the reins from the highly rated James Allison, who is now the Mercedes chief technical officer.  “I think it’s the combined energy of the team. I love being a part of the team that’s working towards a common goal I love racing, that’s never going to change, and I always believe I can do better. I love that challenge of having to deep dive and see if you can extra more performance. It’s not the same car every year, a new logbook you have to get used to, and I love that. I’d like to stay here a little longer,” said 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who recently turned 38.  He is making a bid for a record 8th world crown which will make him the undisputed most successful driver in the history of F1 statistically speaking.